Trusting
by DreamingBeyond
Summary: Max is a badass seventeen year old, and everything she tried all her life to fix changes when the new bad boy enigma comes. Will she learn how to be trusting, or will she push him away, just like she did with everyone else? FAX-ALL HUMAN! R&R! :D
1. Chapter 1

**_Trusting_**

**_By DreamingBeyond_**

**_Co-Written by ArieZINGhearts_**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Maximum Ride._**

**_I do not own any song mentioned in this chapter, or book mentioned, or the words 'Oh my glob or 'Oh glob.'_**

* * *

_ Max sat on her bed, staring at the picture of her and Angel together. It was five years since she's died, six years since Dr. M, Jeb's fiancée, died, and three and a half years since Jeb left. Angel would be twenty-one right now, just like Ari and Brigid. Sam is just a year older than Max, and she knows he chose to forget about Angel. Nudge and Iggy were Max's age, and they felt the same way she did. Broken. J.J. was a sophomore this year, the only sophomore of the group, and she was in the hospital right now. Gazzy took it the worst, since he was the youngest of the group. But Ella didn't know. No one knew exactly where she went after Dr. M died._

* * *

**_Chapter One_**

**_Max_**

"Max, wake up, it's your first day of school!" Gazzy, my fifteen-year-old brother screamed. I stretched my arms, keeping my eyes close. "Wake up!" he screamed again, right in my ear. I threw a pillow in his face, rubbing my eyes.

"What the hell, Gazzy?" I glared at him. He didn't look ready to go to school. His light blond hair was a mess, and he looked half-conscious; his gray-blue eyes barely open. "Sorry, Max. You have three minutes to get ready and leave for school, or you'll be late once you arrive," he said, glancing at the alarm clock on my dresser. I did, too, seeing the bright green numbers. 7:42.

"And you only tell me now? Get out!" I yelled. I heard Gazzy scramble out of my room and down the marble stairs.

What? I was _not_ going to be late on my first day of junior year. I had to keep my grades up for track, and Pruitt, a horrible excuse for a principal, would not let me join if I was late or if I skipped again. I even dropped out of school for the last three months. Why? Because of – _don't even think about it_.

_Don't think, don't think, no thinking about it, thinking about it is a big no, no, Max, big, BIG, NO, NO._

I groaned as the song 'I Don't Think About It,' started playing in my head. _Thanks a freaking lot, Gazzy, for listening to Emily because you thought she was 'cute' in Hannah Montana. _

I grabbed a pair of skinny jeans and a black V-neck out of my closet, and began to change.

Once out of my room, I practically _leaped_ from the top of the staircase to the bottom. Gazzy tossed me a box of Cocoa Puffs, and I scooped some out, stuffing it into my mouth.

I ran to the bathroom, speed teeth-brushing.

I took my helmet with me as I began to repeatedly jam my finger into the button to open the garage.

"Ugh, _go faster_! _Come on_!" I yelled to no one in particular.

"_Ha,_ that's what she said!" Sam yelled from the kitchen, laughing like a maniac. I pulled out the bag of Cocoa Puffs and launched the box at the kitchen.

"My eyeball!" he screamed. I smirked.

Once I heard the loud groan of the garage door, I flung the front door open, running to the garage.

That's when I realized. It was fucking _Sunday_! Good one, Gazzy. I could hear them laughing from inside the house. I walked swiftly back to the house.

"You guys _suck_. Can't I just sleep in peace?" I groaned, falling onto the mat on the floor of the den. "I'd smack your heads off, but I'm _sleepy_."

"Yeah, whatever, Nudge and Ig will over at 8, though. Igtard _called_ to say that," I heard Ari say.

I hummed in acknowledgment, falling asleep.

**_Iggy_**

I grabbed my duffle bag and ran down stairs.

"Going to see Max, I see? That's good, that's good. You haven't seen her in a week now, since we went to Vegas," Mom pointed out, folding clothes and putting it in a suitcase. She was planning on staying in Oregon for two weeks, which means two weeks of living with Max.

"Actually, no, I'm going on a long, tiring journey to see the Easter Unicorns, so they can give me magical boobs that squirt cheesy beacon," I said, grinning.

"_Ha, ha, _that's funny . . . and disgusting. We have new neighbors, though. Anne Walker has a child your age. Fang, I heard. And she has a daughter, too. Ellen, was it? You should stop by there first. You know, be welcoming. I told Anne you'd be showing Fang around. He's starting school tomorrow with his sister," she informed me. I shrugged as I walked out the door, locking it.

I looked over to the neighbor's house, and I saw a guy my height carrying a gigantic box. Jogging over to him, I said, "Fang, right? I'm Iggy."

He stopped walking and nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"So, you have a sister?" I asked. He nodded again.

I studied him. He had slick black hair, black (I suck at describing, okay? I'm Iggy – do you expect me to be smart?) eyes, olive-toned (Yes! Good description, right?) skin, and a lean figure.

"Well," I said, breaking the awkward silence. He looked at me, expressionless, then motioned to the bag in my hand with his eyes.

"I'm going to my friend's house. You know the unicorns' place? Yeah, they give free magic boobies, spewing out cheese beacon." I said, nodding my head. His lip tugged upward. "Well, see you around, Oh Great Mute One," I said, walking by him. _Damn Igs. That could be offensive. _

Max's gate was in front of me in no time, and I began to furiously shove my finger onto the doorbell (it's more like a 'gatebell,' isn't it?); a habit I learned from Max.

"_Dude, are you trying to break our gatebell?_" Ari's voice asked from the outdoor intercom. "Yeah," I answered.

The black gate opened, and so did the _fauncy _wooden brown double doors.

"Hey, Igtard," Ari said as I walked in, patting my head. He didn't even bother pushing the button to close the doors.

"Got any beacon?" I asked, walking past the kitchen toward the gigantic black bean bag in the den. "Beacon . . . indeed we have," he answered back from somewhere behind me after banging loud kitchen cabinets. _Why do I keep talking about beacon though? I'm not a pregnant male, am I? Oh dear Lord. _Why_ am I even thinking about that? _I sighed.

"Beacon I shall cook th—"

My sentence was cut off when someone tackled me.

"_OOF_," I groaned.

"Hey Igs, I missed you," Max's voice said from on top of my back. Was that seriously her? She was so _heavy_. I felt like a bus full of _obese _people was sitting on me! And I don't like calling people obese. _BREATH, IG, BREATH, COME ON, YOU CAN DO IT!_ I encouraged myself.

"Hey Max, it's a miracle how you're," gasp, "awake this early!"

"Yup; thanks to my idiot brothers," she said, laughing a bit.

"Yeah," I gasped for more air. "God, what did you," gasp, "eat while I was gone?" gasp. "Did you eat a freaking city?" Queue the wheezing. "Sheesh," I breathed out. I groaned again, wheezing louder.

"Ha, whatever, at least we're conversing while there's a guy as heavy as _King Kong_ on you," Max snorted.

"Whaaa are," gasp, "you talking," wheeze, "about?"

"Are you calling me _fat_?" I heard Ari say; his voice in a higher octave. "_Ugh_, you _jerks_; I'ma go anorexic," he cried.

I felt his hard body roll off of me. I looked up, seeing Max smirk in Ari's direction. "You see, Igtard, I pinned my brother down on you, to see if you thought Ari was fat, too," she smiled proudly. "I _told_ you," she said immaturely, sticking out her tongue.

Ignoring that, Ari looked at me. I raised an eyebrow. Was Ari having trouble finding a good comeback?

"Well, what can I say? I'ma beast!" he declared.

"A _fat_ beast," Max mumbled under her breath.

"I'll let that slide, since you'll be attending school this year," he sighed.

I looked at Max, surprised, just as Nudge screamed from the doorway.

"_Oh my God_, Max that's great! Just think about the look on Maya and Lissa's face! They'll be all like, 'OMF_G_, why the heck is _she_ here, like, _oh_, _my_, _gosh_!" Nudge began flapping her arms. "And then the badass chick will be back, and then every guy in the world would want to date you, other than us . . . EW right? And then, _ohmyGod, thisissofantastic_! I'm _so_ glad to walk the halls with my _best friend_! Like, the universe's biggest fashionista and the universe's biggest badass cool chick walkin' down the halls like the killer people we _are_. I missed you so much! Every _cool_ person in the world misses you!" she said in a rush, beaming like an idiot.

I looked back at Max, who was smiling, looking like she was touched by Nudge's odd speech.

"That means a lot to me. I wasn't even gone, Nudge," she laughed a little. "I was just in Arizona for two weeks, and the rest of the three months were me just around the city."

"But you're back," I argued. "It shows just how awesome you are," I added.

She smiled at me in that adorable way, hugging me, and then having Nudge barrel into her. Nudge looked like she was crying, when she _just_ saw Max, like, what? Three days ago?

"Three months, Max. Three months of _you_ not being _at _school, being _the badass of the world_, and letting Lissa's gang get to us."

Max's arms fell to the side and she looked a little blank.

"We'll see about that tomorrow, right?" she suggested, flopping onto the heavenly den couch where Ari was staring at his stomach.

"Nudge," Ari said, pouting. Nudge's eyes flickered to him. "Do I look . . . fat?"

Silence . . .

After about ten seconds, Nudge began crying with laughter, rolling on the floor.

"WHAT KIND OF . . . BUFF MACHO DUDE . . . ASKS THAT?" she asked between her guffaws.

"Tell me the _truth_," he whined. "And stop laughing! Gazzy and Sam _just_ went to sleep."

Nudge put her hand up, walking away.

"I _am_ fat, aren't I?" Ari sighed, looking at his stomach and jabbing his finger into it.

I shrugged, finally getting to sit in the bean bag. I tossed my duffle bag on the mat, dozing off.

"Oh my _God, _Max!" Nudge screamed, running down the stairs.

Max's head snapped up. "Huh?" she said tiredly.

"You're new neighbor is _so_ hott!" she exclaimed.

"What?" she asked.

"You're new neighbor looks so flippin' _hott_! His hair is to die for. It's so cute. And his eyes are adorable! God, I saw him from Sam's window. Mega 11 for the scale!" she shrieked.

"That's nice," Max mumbled, cuddling into the couch pillow.

"We should meet him!" Nudge said, jumping up and down.

"He's going to school tomorrow. I have to show him around," I said.

"Good," she breathed.

"Don't you have a boyfriend? And his name is Fang by the way," I added, looking at her. She glared at me.

"Well it doesn't mean I can't state that a dude looks hott." Her face changed. "Oh my glob, is he like a vampire fan or something? Like Twilight? Oh glob, oh glob, this is good. Max reads twilight. I can just see them as a couple. A couple is a weird word, don't you think? Cup and ul is odd right? Hey, I think this room is twice the size of my room. I added a new poster for the song—"

"Stop talking, unless you want to tell me I'm not a fatty!" Ari groaned.

"Shushushshush, close the doors, Ari," Max said, nudging Ari with her foot.

"Yeah, whatever, good night," Ari said, getting up with his hand on his stomach.

**_Author's Note: Oh my. I can't believe . . . never mind me, I'm emotional, heh._**

**_This is written for all the lovely readers out there._**

**_Thank you May, Jonathan, Jason, Bryson, Vince, Zaria, Zee, Kierra, Trevor, Parisse, Noah, Emma, Sadie, Shane, and Sonia, for being my best friends since I can remember. _**

**_Please review, lovelies._**

**_-Veronica Marie DreamingBeyond_**

**_Zaria ArieZINGhearts_**


	2. Chapter 2

**_Trusting_**

**_By Dreaming Beyond _**

**_Co-Written by ArieZINGhearts_**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Maximum Ride, nor the products mentioned._**

* * *

_ It was always that way — me hating school — after that one day. _

_ For English, our assignment was to write down one of our dreams, something we want but can't ever have. It was freshman year, the year I had no Dr. M, no Jeb, and most importantly, no Angel; the year I was as broken as ever. I wrote down the dream I've always wanted — the dream that condemned me onto Lissa's hate list. And if someone's on that list, the school must follow the list, of course. _

* * *

**_Chapter Two_**

**_Max_**

It was only the beginning of September, but it was alright slightly breezy, and there were gray clouds rolling in. I snuggled more into my brown leather jacket, since my long sleeved 'KEEP CALM AND EAT' shirt helped _nothing_. It was funny how there was always gray clouds on the day of Angel's death.

We were at school now, and I could practically feel Gazzy's excitement from where I sat on my MV Agusta F4CC. I was a bit surprised by Gazzy's happiness, because this school is practically a way to suck life out of a person. It was _that_ bad.

I parked in my usual spot between Sam's sexy red Ferrari and Ari's adorable neon green and white passion coupe smart car, which Brigid insisted on getting. Why Sam had a 2012 Spider, let alone a _Ferrari_ is beyond my knowledge, since he wanted to 'lay low' on the rich status. Not that I disliked it, because, _damn_, that thing was sexy; but still.

"So why're you so excited?" I asked, smiling at Gazzy.

"Because junior high _sucked_," he said seriously, and then smirked. "And Ig promised to introduce me to the sexies of the world," he added, smiling. _What?_

"Er, okay then! Get off now," I said, smiling as I shoved him a little.

"Yeah, see you in a bit," he said, shuffling through the crowds in the parking lot.

I sighed. School — it's fucking _fantastic_.

I took a deep breath, doing my mental preparation.

1) Chin up. Don't be a weakling. 2) Deep breaths. You're supposed to breathe anyway, right? 3) Keep calm; in other words, don't start bursting into tears after a bird craps on your teddy bear. 4) Let it loose . . . your anger, that is. Not the tears because of the crapping bird. And finally, 5) do all four steps and be the bitch you are, because really, you own this fucking place.

**_Fang_**

"So that's our school," Iggy concluded, looking at me.

I nodded, but I was kind of distracted.

All the attention I was getting – not that I wanted it – was turned to someone else completely.

"Oh, there she is," Iggy said, but more to him and not to me. I followed his gaze to see a girl with silky light brown hair with golden streaks that reached her elbows. She was dressed in a brown leather jacket, Prague brown combat boots, black skinny jeans and a white shirt with words I couldn't see clearly. A black and brown Herschel backpack with a small teddy bear hanging on the zipper was slung onto her left shoulder, and her right hand came up to brush her extremely long side bangs out of her face. Her long legs were walking with confidence, and she looked as if she ruled this school.

Her bright brown eyes looked up and caught Iggy's gaze, smiling slightly. Her eyes met mine, too, but this time, her face showed no interest, and she looked . . . scary a little. But the thing was, she was gorgeous. She was stunning. The sun was now poking out of the gray clouds, just barely, and it was outlining her figure like an angel.

She walked toward a long line of outdoor lockers, where a group of five was casually hanging around it.

Iggy began to walk toward her and I followed, but he stopped.

Before the girl could reach the lockers, and them, I assumed, three girls stepped in front of her.

The one on the center, a freckled redhead with a bony, 5'7" or 5'8" figure, spoke up.

"Decided to come back, Ride?" her nasally voice asked.

Ride shrugged, answering in her strong yet cool voice. "I'm here, aren't I?"

The one in the middle laughed slightly, before continuing. "Has Dyl heard? I'm sure he'd just love to hear that you're back," she said sarcastically.

Ride snorted. "That's nice!" she said with fake enthusiasm. "Now move," she finished flatly, pausing before she finished with, "please."

"Why should I?" the redhead asked, giggling.

Ride sighed. "Because being in my way is unnecessary, and if you don't move, I might just break your brand new nose," she said calmly.

"So?" the redhead asked.

The blonde goddess — yeah, the blonde _goddess _— facepalmed, saying, "The smartest thing to ever come out of your mouth was a dick, right Lissa? Now move, please."

The redhe — Lissa, looked confused, and then angered. "How the fuck would you know?"

"I'm just stating a fact," Ride said, crossing her arms. I sidestepped a little to the left so I could see the blonde's face more clearly. She was pissed. She was _beyond_ pissed, and the redhead barely did anything.

The redhead shook her head and whispered something in Ride's ear. Ride's face was a mix of hatred, frustration, sadness and . . . still pissed.

"Don't you dare talk about my family like that, _whore_," Ride spat venomously after hearing what the redhead said and pushing her away slowly as if she were trying not to hurt Lissa. She was trying to be controlled.

"I'm only stating a fact," the redhead smiled wryly, and the two girls beside her giggled.

The blonde girl turned to Iggy, and her eyes began to twinkle. She drew her fist back, and then slammed it onto the redhead's nose.

"Whoops! Looks like you have to get a new nose, _again_," she said casually. The redhead tried keeping her dignity, as if it didn't hurt at all, but her nose was bleeding, and he the blood was dripping onto her white blouse. Her bottom lip quivered and her hand that held a tissue, which seemed to appear from nowhere, began to dab her nose. She glared at the blonde, and the two girls on either side of the redhead began to frantically try and help the redhead. The one with the broken nose was crying now, and the mascara was dripping down her cheeks.

I admit, this 'angel' had quite the punch.

The blonde made a loud sigh, sidestepping away from the scene.

She reached her friends, and they started talking quietly. The blonde turned around, beckoning him over with her eyes. It looked like they were conversing silently. She then turned her gaze to me again, and her eyes had the same expectant look she held for Iggy.

We walked over to them, but avoided the crowd of people around the redhead and her friends. I noticed that no one stared at me anymore, as if the redhead were the center of the school . . . which she might be.

"So this is—" Iggy started.

"Oh my _glob_, your name's Fang, right? Iggy's mom told me you and your sister just settled here, and all that! We're practically neighbors, since I'm mostly at Max's 24/7. That's cool right? Well, I'm Monique, but I'm also known as Nudge, because they tend to nudge me a lot when I talk too much. You know, like, nudging to shut someone up. Like a dog! But I'm not a dog, obviously. Well, I would rather be a bird. I mean, learn to fly or learn to sniff your tail? _Fly_, duh! But I do have a dog, and he doesn't sniff his tail as much. Don't you hate when people sniff you? Talk about _awkward_! I mean, seriously, can you _imagine _this random person stepping up to and be ing all like, 'You smell good, dude!' after sniffing you. That's major gross." the girl with mocha skin began to laugh after babbling so much. She spoke rapidly fast, not even pausing for a second to gain more breaths, but I'm pretty sure she did breathe. She had caramel colored eyes and long black hair that reached her butt. She wore all designer clothes, and her face was carefree and obviously cheery, ready to start bursting into a new speech.

"So," she continued, "that's Ari, he's twenty-one, that's Sam, he's eighteen, _and_ my boyfriend – he's hott, right? – And that's Gazzy, the freshie in the group. They're all Max's brothers. So technically, they're all _Rides_. And that's Ari's girlfriend, Bri—"

"I think we can introduce ourselves," the girl Nudge was pointing at said, laughing a little. Nudge just beamed back.

"I'm Brigid Dwyer," the girl who nudged Nudge — no pun intended — said, smiling. She was about 5'6", and her strawberry blonde hair was in a high ponytail. She had rosy cheeks and a bright smile, and her blue eyes were bright and welcoming. She was indeed a hott person.

I nodded once, and Iggy began. "So, I guess you already know that this is F—"

A tall, lean boy, with dark brown hair and green eyes – Ari – smiled and cut him off. "He's not talking," he pointed out, laughing.

"I've noticed," Iggy nodded, stepping back to study me more closely. "Are you mute? That sucks," he stated, still smiling at me as if I were his best friend. I tried not to glare. That was rude. But these were the only people that were actually talking to me.

"No, I—"

"I know that this cutting off thing is annoying, but don't you think that was a little rude, Ig?" the blonde girl with brown eyes asked. Even her voice was hott. _DAMN._

Iggy shrugged, never dropping his smile.

I looked at the girl closely, wondering why she didn't tell me her name.

She turned away in annoyance, but I knew she saw me staring. "Does everyone have their schedules? I didn't get mine y – oh," she smiled, seeing Ari's hand with a schedule.

"Oh!" Nudge gasped, looking from me to the blonde girl. I kept my face impassive, as always. "_You_ didn't tell her – oops, I mean _him_ – your name yet! How could you do this? Isn't it the formal thing to do? For example, I'd be all like, 'Hi, I'm Nudge,' and he would be all like, 'Hey, I'm Fang, wussup?'" she tried saying the last part in a really low voice. The blonde rolled her eyes, but looked at me. "Maximum Ride," she said flatly before brushing past me and grabbing Nudge and Iggy's elbows. Sam, who was about 6 feet tall with a lean figure, chestnut brown hair and hazel eyes, followed them closely behind. I watched them leave, and I saw Iggy saying stuff to Maximum with irritation.

_Maximum Ride. _It suited her. Like, a badass name. It didn't even _sound_ normal. Like, you could change _Maximum Ride_ to something like _Top Mover_ or something. I'm not good with synonyms, alright? Jeez.

Brigid laughed after they left and were out of sight, trying to force humor into it. "Max doesn't do well with new people – or people in general, anymore. But, you get used to it, you know? She's like, so closed off all the time, but she's like a little sister, so I do love her, but, you get used it, like I said before. It may get on your nerves, but . . ." she trailed off.

Gazzy, the bow with light blonde hair and bold blue eyes looked at me with his jaw tight, and Ari looked stiffer as Brigid spoke. "We weren't inviting this dude to our lives," Ari said, trying to play off his anger with a casual tone. Brigid shrugged as the three walked away.

I sighed inwardly. I was practically alone, and I could feel people staring at me again.

I walked silently but quickly through the staring tiny crowds of people. I ignored the girls who tried to get my attention, trying to find my first period. I pretty much forgot everything Iggy said.

"Need help?" a girl behind me asked.

I turned around and saw a girl with blonde hair reaching her chin, glowing light green eyes, and a face smudged with makeup and bright red lipstick. I shrugged, and she walked in sync beside me. "I'm Tess," she said, beaming. She blinked multiple times, quicker than normal, and I realized she was one of the girls that helped the redhead. I nodded in acknowledgement, letting her take my schedule.

Her green heels clicked as we walked, and her bracelets chimed loudly. I looked at the shoes, and then the silver bracelets with irritation.

"Here it is," she said, smiling. I nodded, and she was now smiling from ear to ear. "See you at lunch hopefully," she winked, walking away.

_Click, click, click_, went her shoes.

I began to walk toward an empty seat, but I nearly died as something grabbed my ankle.

"Fu—_fruitcakes_!" I screamed, jumping out of my shoes. Well, not literally, because if I would, the hand would hold me down with that grip.

Maximum came crawling from under a desk, laughing like a maniac.

"So—sorry," she breathed. "I'm trying to be nice," she said, regaining her posture as she stood up in the blink of an eye. Her eyes were still closed off, and she still had the bored expression though. But she was smiling . . . somewhat.

"I'm not good with newbies," she said honestly, patting my head. I made sure to swat her hand away softly. She looked me in the eye, and then at my hair, and smiled. "Wuss," she said under her breath, gracefully walking to a seat in the back.

We sat next to each other, and watched as others filed in.

Everyone's eyes were directed in her direction rather than mine, but she ignored it, staring at the park, just barely visible from here.

"Max!" a nasally voice said cheerily. Our eyes both snapped up to where the voice came from, and I realized I was staring at Maximum's face the entire time. "Lissa," she said monotonously. The redhead brushed some of her short side bangs out of her face, looking at me through her long, fake eyelashes.

"So who're you?" the redhead, Lissa, asked sweetly, flashing her white teeth in my direction. I realized there was a large bandage on her nose. I wondered how she took care of her nose so fast. But she was hott, too. She had a slender figure, and although her face was caked in makeup, she looked like one of those Cover Girl models, like Max. She had light, glossy pink lips, and her green eyes were even brighter because of the dark green eye shadow she wore. I could see her cleavage, but at least she had a shirt on.

"Fang," I answered.

"I own this school, you know," Lissa added casually. How random. _But she's still hott. _

Maximum sighed aggravatingly. She made a fake rainbow with her hand as she drawled out, "Nobody cares!" People around us burst out laughing, as if they understood the joke, until I realized it was SpongeBob's 'Imagination' line.

I looked at Maximum, and I could see her impassive face. _Almost impassive as mine,_ I thought approvingly.

"Bitch; you shut the f—" Lissa was cut off with the sound of the teacher clearing her throat.

"Front door," Lissa finished lamely, taking a seat in front of Max.

"Alright class, this is a new year! I'm Miss Donahue. If you stay on my good side, I will be as nice as ever! But if you stay on my bad side, you are most definitely _screwed_!" she said bluntly in a happy voice.

"We have two new students. Omega and Nicholas would you like to come up and tell us about yourselves?" she asked.

"No," we grunted in unison. Miss Donahue's wasn't fazed. She flicked some of her auburn hair out of her face, staring at us with her extremely excited hazel eyes.

"Shy, are we now? Well that's alright! We have Maximum back, too," she said, smiling warmly in Max's direction, as if she adored Max. Max forced a small smile. "Max," she corrected.

"Anyhoo," Miss Donahue said, making a shooing motion as if it made the subject go away. "This is a very important class. I'm assuming you already have your books. If you don't, then you just failed part one of responsibility. Part two is, shut the hell up unless I say you can talk!" she said, beaming with confidence.

And that's what we did. Shut up, that is.

* * *

It was lunch time already, but I didn't see any signs of my sister, Ella. I just finished buying my lunch. Ella was supposed to be with my by now.

"Hey," Iggy said from behind me. I nodded once, and he pointed to a table. "Want to sit there? I'm sure you'd rather sit there than _there_," he said, pointing to Lissa's table. I frowned. Lissa had been in four of my classes so far, Max was only in my first, fourth and fifth period, Iggy was in my second and fifth, and Nudge, the talkative one, was in my fourth. Nudge and Iggy would never stop talking to me. Not that I objected, since they were pretty cool.

I shrugged, following him. Ella would just have to wait.

Nudge was oblivious to us, so she continued to talk, but I saw Max's back stiffen, as if she could sense Iggy had company. She had been ignoring me ever since first period.

". . . Stay at the park today! It'll be _fun_," Nudge said, patting Max's back. She smiled at Nudge, turning around to look at me, and then Iggy. Iggy sat down on the empty seat, and there was only one empty seat left, across from Max. I sat down there, and I caught Max's gaze.

She stared at me with disbelief and anger in her eyes, but she recovered quickly.

"_Hola, __mi amigo! ¿Cómo estás?_" Max asked to Iggy.

"I'm good. So what do you have there in your hand?" Iggy said, pointing to Max's arm, hiding something behind her back.

She beamed brightly, moving to our side of the table without showing Iggy what was behind her back.

"_Un moment s'il vous plait_," she said perfectly in French. She then pulled out a key.

"Happy 7 months late birthday gift, Igtard!" Max cheered, hugging him. He laughed, taking the key from her.

"This is the key to . . ." he trailed off with confusion.

"The spare to my sexy Lamborghini Mercy," she said with a wink. Sam began to sing, "_Lamborghini Mercy! Your chick she so thirsty! I'm in that two seat Lambo with your girl, she try'na jerk me!"_

Iggy was grinning ear to ear, ignoring Sam. "Thanks! I'ma see if I could install bombs in it! Thanks Max," he said again, hugging her tightly. Max laughed, and I could see Iggy blush. He liked her?

"I know, I know. Maximum Ride is the best at giving super late presents. Well, _annyeonghi gaseyo_! _Nan neohuideul-eul salang_!" she said to everyone in . . . Korean?

She stood up and walked away, just after slapping Sam playfully on the head and telling him to shut up.

Nudge sighed. "She isn't eating again. Hey, we should go out for ice cream, and then hang out in the tree!" she squealed at the idea.

"Uh wel—" Ari began. I didn't notice how Brigid and Ari were there, and Brigid was sitting comfortably in his lap.

"We should. Fang should come too," Iggy said. "Sounds like a plan," Brigid said over Nudge's squeals of excitement.

Ari looked at me doubtfully before finishing his lunch.

It was the last class of the day, thank the Lord, and Max and I sat together in English.

The teacher, Miss—she was a _Miss _for a reason—Junes, was short, and she was as skinny as a stick. She was probably in her mid-sixties, and she talked as if she were about to fall asleep at any moment. Her hair was snow white rather than gray, and although she was tired a lot, she still paid attention to the students. She had blue eyes that made you shudder, as if she were staring into your soul — a little like Max's eyes, except Miss Junes' eyes were cold and creepy. I noticed how Max was looking at the park through the window again.

She was calling attendance, which I found stupid.

"Maximum Ride," she said.

Max's eyes snapped into her direction.

"Um, uh, twelve," Max guessed. The class burst out laughing.

"Wha — Max, I was calling attendance," said the sleepy teacher, managing to roll her eyes.

"I'm here, obviously," Max grounded out. Her eyes were cold, since she obviously wanted to continue staring at the park.

"And why would the answer be twelve? This is English for God's sake," Miss Junes muttered under her breath.

"Anyway, our period is short today. It's the first day of school, but so what? School is school! You have till Monday to finish this assignment. It counts as one fourth of your grade, and your writing skills better be good. Learn stuff personal from your partner; write a paper about it. And it has to be true, deep, and _long_. That's it, kiddos! Get to your partners!" Miss Junes said as if it were an _easy _assignment.

The girls stood up, staring at me, until she added slowly, "Oh wait, you're partner is the one seated beside you."

I realized she was doing it to help me. I smiled at her, and she looked at me coldly. _Well then, _I thought, inwardly putting my hands up.

Max looked at me, and then frowned. "I can't work today. I'm going out. I'm sorry," she said slowly.

"Iggy invited me," I said without thinking.

I watched her reactions carefully.

She stared at me blankly. That's all she did.

She stared.

**_Max_**

"Iggy invited me," he blurted.

I looked into his onyx eyes. He always wore an expressionless face, until I got him to yell 'fruitcakes,' which I admit was pretty hilarious. He stared at me intently, absentmindedly flipping his jet black hair out of his eyes, which never left mine.

I took a deep breath. _Iggy invited him. Iggy's your friend. Iggy would be pissed if I said he couldn't. Iggy wants a new friend. And I owe him, for missing his birthday and only getting him a present 7 months later, which wasn't _fully _his present, since it was mine, too._

I opened my mouth, drawing out quietly, "Alright."

I looked away, and I could just barely see the beautiful tree — the one tree that meant the world to me.

_Happy death anniversary, Angel_, I thought quietly.

But I didn't know.

I didn't know that this project would change just about every fucking thing that I built for myself and for my family.

**_Author's Note:_**

**_Well. This chapter was ten pages long . . . and uninteresting to some. The next chapter will be much, much, _****much_ better, I believe! (:_**

**_If you didn't understand some of the phrases in different languages said in this chapter, here it is:_**

**_Spanish: Hello, my (male) friend! How are you?_**

**_French: One moment please._**

**_Korean: Goodbye! I love you!_**

**_It will be mostly Max's POV, and some of Ella's. I really do think that Ella's POV is important in this story, so stick around and read it. :D I'd really like your opinions on this story. I'm open for instructive criticism. Seriously. _**

**_Review! Please! You get virtual chocolate and Cheetos, lol. Please? _****_If there are any mistakes, just tell me, because I should fix it xD_**

**_And thank you to those who reviewed/followed/favorite-d this story!_**

**_Keep dreaming beyond, lovelies. (: _**

**_-Veronica Marie DreamingBeyond_**

**_-Zaria ArieZINGhearts_**


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